


Tomorrow

by Questioning_TrashCan



Series: Time stands still [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Apocalypse, F/F, Humanstuck, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Short vague oneshot chapters p/ much, This is the first series, it's really unorganized compared to the rest, will add tags as they're needed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-05-28 13:40:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 4,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6331387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Questioning_TrashCan/pseuds/Questioning_TrashCan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>http://promptsonpaper.tumblr.com/post/130150955026/if-the-world-lied-and-said-there-was-a-tomorrow </p><p>You want to believe there's a way out of this. But the world is ending and chances of it being put back together look bleak.</p><p>So you cling to what you have, which is limited to a few broken people you call friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Terezi

Sometimes there's no way out and you're forced to live with that. If this can even qualify as living.

Your name is Terezi Pyrope. Your best friend Vriska is still alive because she is a badass. John is still alive. Jade is still alive. Rose and Dave are still here, too. That's one, two, three four, five, six... Six of you. There are six of you left. Rose told you to keep tabs on who was left and on what you're thinking. She told you it would help in your spiraling descent into madness. You're not mad. 

You're not.

It's been two years since your entire world changed and there's nothing left to do about it anymore because you're some of the only ones left. The others, they call the blood hunters. Those guys. _Those guys_ were mad. Not you. To be fair, Rose had said the same thing to Dave, John, Jade, Vriska and Gamzee (well look how he turned out). You guess she said it to Tavros too, but you know how that one ended.

You need to stop living in the past, you tell yourself, and snap back to attention when you hear your name being shouted in your left ear.

"Terezi for the love of sweet Mary and Joseph, don't scare me like that!" It was Vriska. Of course it was. She's the only one that cares about you. You mumble an apology and she ruffles your hair. "Just stop zoning out, it really fucks me up when you do that." You apologize again. "You need to cut your hair." You say nothing. "Okay, what's up with you?!" She stops walking and places a hand on your shoulder so you do the same.

It wasn't unusual for her to get mad easily. And with how sullen you're being, it's understandable. "Nothing's up," you assure, but you know something is. Because you're drawing attention to yourself and Karkat's turned around to figure out what's going on.

"You bulge-munchers had better move it." He warned. "We don't have all day." Vriska waves him off and looks at you again. You say nothing and keep walking. She makes a sound that's halfway between a groan of never-ending emotional agony and a sigh to rival every existing teenager. Which aren't many. You wonder how you're going to repopulate the Earth once this is all over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I blame Tumblr. I blame Tumblr for everything.
> 
> Just let me rot by myself.


	2. The cliche Gamzee episode

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’re the first to fall, you realize. And there’s no way out of this shithole you’ve dug for yourself.

Maybe there’s a point to this. If there is, you sure as hell don’t know what it is.

Your name is Gamzee Makara and you don’t know what to do because your boyfriend is dead and it’s all your fault. Tavros lies limp in your arms as you cradle him to your chest, sobbing, muttering apologies and profanities while Karkat tries to comfort you by papping your back like he always does. It doesn’t work this time and you jerk away from his touch.

He pulls back and the rest of them are just standing there, watching.

You’re the first to fall, you realize. You’re the first of many to fall and you can tell the others aren’t far behind. Karkat’s been acting up lately. You would’ve thought he’d last the longest out of all of you. But apparently not, because he’s run off to his boyfriend now to seek his own comfort, you can feel their P.D.A burning into your back.

It takes a long time for you to calm down because despite everyone’s assurances, you know it’s your fault and you know this is a mistake you can’t reverse. You know there’s no way out. 

“Motherfuck…” You nuzzle into his neck, but there’s nothing beneath because his body and head were only connected by a tendon, but now they’ve fallen apart. You’re just clutching his head now, but you refuse to let go. “I fucked up something bad…” You mumble through sobs, and no one says anything. They’re just watching, like vultures. 

You’re the first to fall, you realize. And there’s no way out of this shithole you’ve dug for yourself.


	3. Dave Strider and his teenage post-apocalyptic dilemmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pushing him away also isn’t doing you any good, you realize, and hold him close as you kiss up the nape of his neck. From there, things get a little steamy.

Your name is Dave Strider and you don’t know what to do. Gamzee is gone and Karkat is destroyed, and you for some reason are expected to know how to deal with it and comfort him. You’re actually offended that the crabcakes thinks you know how to handle this, but you cuddle him nonetheless.

You’re in bed lying next to the albino boy in a hotel that you’d spent three hours today clearing and cleaning out so it was habitable for the night. He whispers those three words and you say them back because it’s the only way you know how to make him feel better.

You’re reminded of Bro and how he used to never comfort you like this when you were scared or stressed. He died when you were thirteen and you find yourself missing him more than you’d ever care to admit. Karkat nuzzles into your neck and kisses it lightly, you tell him you’re not in the mood when he tries to feel you up. He pouts and rolls back over, leaving you to spoon him all night long.

You miss your Bro and you really wish you could just forget.

But you can’t, and you’re alone aside from crabcakes, who feels too distant anyways. But pushing him away also isn’t doing you any good, you realize, and hold him close as you kiss up the nape of his neck. From there, things get a little steamy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are so short omg kill me


	4. Of Striders and Lalondes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your name is Rose Lalonde, your girlfriend is missing and your brother is being a complete ass, as usual.

There are things to be done, you tell yourself. There are always things to be done. Finding fresh water, and food that hasn't rotted away. You miss her. Everyone knows you do. And it makes you angry that they think it's clouding your vision when, even with that setback, you're still the most level-headed out of the group.

Your name is Rose Lalonde, your girlfriend is missing and your brother is being a complete ass, as usual.

He shoves you to the side all the time (in a metaphorical sense, of course. Had he literally been pushing you, you would've voiced this complaint much sooner). But this way almost hurts more than if he'd been metaphorically distancing himself. You decide that today is the day that stops.

"Dave, may I speak with you a moment?" He snaps to attention and nods, though you can tell he's nervous. Being around him so long has given you the ability to sense things that he tries so desperately to hide. "Listen, I don't appreciate you pushing me away all the time. You're my brother, but we both know that's not the excuse I'm after. Regardless of biological relations, you're meant to be here for me."

He frowns at that. "What gave you that idea? I'm a fucking person, Rose. I ain't entitled to do shit for you." You know he's just saying that. The stress is getting to him. Everyone is falling apart and all you two can do is watch. But it still hurts a little bit.

"You and everyone else are entitled to be supportive while we slowly spiral down into hell, as am I. I don't know if you've noticed, but we're the only ones left." Your voice is calm and steady, but your heart is running wild because you're scared he's gong to lash out physically. It wouldn't be the first time.

"I've noticed." He hisses through gritted teeth. "Not that I don't love you and all that bullshit but I've got shit I need to be doing. You know, keeping myself alive. Gathering food that hasn't rotted away." He's silent for a moment. "I know you miss Kanaya, alright? It's pretty fucking obvious. But you don't have to go pushing that shit onto me." How fucking dare he. Now he's bringing your missing girlfriend into the mix. Shit just got ugly.

You clench your fists with no intention of taking a swing, but impulses are sharp and strong when your life is at stake on a regular basis. Your fist collides with his cheek and at last his face is free of those goddamn shades. They fly across the room and hit the wall at a high enough speed to shatter them had they been glass. But no, they're definitely plastic. They remain intact and you can't help but feel a tiny bit disappointed, even though your knuckles hurt and Dave is yelling at you, cradling his cheek.

You can't understand what he's saying, you're just shocked. You're the calm and level-headed one. There are things that need to be done, you tell yourself. You say the same thing to Dave before walking away quickly, cradling your own hand. It doesn't hurt, you're just scared you're going to do it again if he keeps talking.

Your vision gets blurry as you walk and you feel dizzy. You collapse at the door and the last thing you remember is Dave kneeling by your side, shouting something completely incoherent.


	5. The outsider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe you _are_ dead. The idea should unsettle you more than it actually does.

You're just going through the motions by now. Eat, sleep, fight, repeat. You should be dead, he tells you every chance he gets, just mumbling under his breath like he's not really talking to _you_. Karkat. Your little brother. You never thought you'd see the day where he said that to you and meant it like he does now. It's not like he _wishes_ death upon you. At least, you hope so.

You can't tell anymore. You want to believe he doesn't.

You wonder if you're just making things up now. You're the last one left. Anyone you were close to before is gone.

They were all taken out in the explosion that sent everyone into a panic. Rufioh's brother lost his legs then - Mituna's brother went blind because he was staring right at it at the time. You assume it had something to do with the radioactivity involved and not just the brightness of it, because you saw it too.

And you're fine. 

This has to all be a dream, it's the only explanation as to how you're not dead yet. Or maybe you are, maybe you're just watching.

That's why Karkat's crying your name, faced away from you and that's why his friends are giving him sympathetic looks. You were the last one left anyway, you think Karkat was the only one who even remotely cared about you. You have your doubts about his sincerity even now, because you make a point of making people understand how you feel, whereas he expects everyone to understand just by grunting at them.

You speak, but they don't hear you. 

Maybe you _are_ dead. The idea should unsettle you more than it actually does.


	6. The other ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We seem to be the only alright ones left." You say sadly.
> 
> "Yeah... Make that just you."

She's tired, you know she is. She's your cousin, you've always been close. So you can tell when something's bothering her.

And something is, because she's doing that thing again. Her ear twitches when she gets upset, but she never says anything. Jade flops on her back on the unkempt hotel bed, groaning in pain. You know that attack took its toll on everyone, but does she have to be so whiny about it?

"Geez, calm down. You're not gonna die if you don't find comfort this second." You crack a bad joke, because that's all you can do to lighten the mood these days. 

Your name is John Egbert, and you're running out of jokes.

She groans again, just to spite you. Then she sits up. "I just thought of something," she declares, placing her gloved hands on her thighs to prove a point. You cross your arms and lean against the doorway, smiling.

"And what's that?"

"How are we going to repopulate the Earth later if we're all either gay or related?" You scoff.

"Wow, okay, you win. You actually said it, so you win. You are officially the worst!" Though you really kind of want to give up on this whole thing and jump out the window, you know she's right. You're probably some of the only ones left, if not _the_ only ones. There's only so many options now, and it kind of sucks that everyone around you is so queer.

Not that being queer is a bad thing, but in this case it could kind of mean the end of the world.

The world's already ending, a voice inside you whispers, interrupted only by Jade's laughter, that sparks your own because you can't help it. Laughing is contagious and you've got a certain mental state you need to be in if you want to last as long - if not longer - than the others.

You don't want to be the last one.

You flop down on the bed next to her, and she lies back on your outstretched arms. You don't know how long you stay like that, but after a while the circulation to your hand starts to get cut off. You wonder how long before you have to amputate it or something, but Jade sits up and starts for the door before you can really find out. 

"Where are you going?"

"To go change my pad," she replies without hesitation, poking her head back in the room just to laugh at your face. You weren't even making a face. You were used to her saying stuff like that now, because there are no boundaries left to be broken.

Aside from the whole repopulating the Earth crap.

She comes back a couple minutes later, and you ask her how she feels about it - you know, breeding. She says she's been thinking a lot about it.

"I mean, I wouldn't mind being the first to try to do it, but, the people available for me to get pregnant from are basically limited to Dave or Karkat, and they're dating. Hence the 'How are we going to repopulate when we're all gay or related' conundrum." Wow, she really has been thinking a lot. That's a lot of coherent words for the tired, headachey version of Jade. And you know she has a headache because she keeps rubbing her temples as she speaks.

"I mean if it really came down to it, _you're_ kind of my only option. But then there's the problem of raising the child - how am I going to do that? There are blood hunters out and about at every corner, just fucking waiting for us to show ourselves so they can shoot us down." It's best not to interrupt when she swears. It's an indication that she's serious. You learned this lesson the hard way. "There's no escape from them, we have to fix the world before we can do anything else and we're the only ones left, we can't do that by ourselves!" 

You sigh and wrap one arm around her. You can tell she needs the comfort. "Hey, it'll be alright."

"John, you've been telling me that for weeks. When will it be alright? When we're dead?" She gives you the puppy dog eyes and you want to laugh, but you know she'll slap you if you do.

You let the silence settle in instead, and she slowly wraps her arms around your waist in return. 

"We seem to be the only alright ones left." You say sadly.

"Yeah... Make that just you."

You nod slowly, taking in a deep breath, then letting it all out. "Cramps that bad?" 

She lets go, grabs a pillow and whacks you over the head with it, laughing like she used to. "Fuck you!"

"Only to save the planet!" You respond, somersaulting off the bed in the most graceful manner you possibly can manage. You're pretty sure you knocked that lamp off the nightstand, but neither of you really care as the pillow fight ensues.

Vriska has to run upstairs and pound on the door for you to be quiet before you settle down for bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this was a long chapter :3
> 
> I got carried away hahah


	7. Getting it together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose has relapsed and no one quite knows how to deal with it because she's the one always pulling us together.

You've been in one place too long. You keep telling him that, but he doesn't listen, he's too busy tending to his sister like nothing is wrong. And don't even get you started about the other two idiots, they're still laughing about all of this like it's fine.

You wonder why your brother is dead, but they're not.

Fate must be playing some cruel joke on you.

Your name is Karkat Vantas, and while you admit the venting-sex is rather good, you wish Dave would come to his senses and realize that there is no therapist for Rose because she is the fucking therapist. You don't say that directly, though. That would be rude and uncalled for, and you'd probably get kicked out. Or just kicked.

He tends to do that.

Terezi's not dealing either. She's already had a breakdown - it happened last night. You're pretty sure everyone heard her screaming about everything that'd happened, and Vriska trying to calm her down.

Gamzee is god knows where, and the rest are already dead. Or missing. A lot of our relatives you didn't actually see die. You're (or rather they're) hoping they're still alive. You know Kankri is dead. And to be honest, you really didn't think you'd miss him this much.

Rose has relapsed and no one quite knows how to deal with it because she's the one always pulling us together.

So you stand there behind your boyfriend as he kneels beside Rose's bed, holding her hand, whispering apologies and begging her to wake up. You find it hard to listen to after a while and leave the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's the regular short chapters :D


	8. The outsider: The second installment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But nobody hears you when you speak. And you think for the first time, you're okay with that.

Everyone's gathered at the sports hall. It's the only place big enough to A) fit everyone and B) allow enough leeway in case of an attack so you can get away. You and your entire group is here. To be honest, you really don't know why you're friends with some of them. But in an alternate universe, they might be the last surviving members of a biased society that selects its social statuses by something as ridiculous as blood colour.

Or maybe they're just the last surviving members of a biased society that believes this problem will go away eventually.

Maybe you're just dreaming, and you'll wake up in the morning with post-traumatic stress disorder. You cling to that hope.

There are high-jump mats pulled out from the shed so you can have a somewhat comfortable sleeping surface, but unfortunately, that also means you're sharing with two other people. You claim that personal space is important and insist in sleeping on the floor instead. It's not comfortable in the slightest, but you feel more at ease. 

You really never were close to anyone, you preferred to keep to yourself. Not that you didn't like people, oh no. You quite enjoyed the company of other sentient beings. They just... Didn't tend to have the same views about you.

That, and your intrusive violent thoughts were beginning to get the better of you. Which you were warned was not good. By a voice that appears in your head. Which you suppose is also not a good sign. You've been ignoring that voice lately.

The younger kids are at the other end of the hall, and some of them are guarding the exits. You're tired, and you slip into a quiet slumber almost too quickly.

When you awake, it's too bright and you squeeze your eyes shut again. You can't hear anything, just a ringing that leaves you feeling dizzy. Or maybe that's the shock waves from the explosion. You only come to that conclusion because there's a hole blown out of the wall down the other end. There's also blood, a lot of that.

And you can hear screaming. It's muffled and a very dull sound, which isn't normal, you decide. You look down and you can't see your hands when you lift them.

You look to the side and you can see your body, lying on its side and bleeding from everywhere. Eyes, nose, mouth, ears, pores. 

There's a lot of blood.

Your face turns into an expression of pure horror that could probably win you an Oscar had you been interested in winning one. You'd rather win an Oscar than witness this, you think.

You're snapped back to reality a few seconds later - you can hear everything. The screaming, the crying, the shooting - it's all merging into one terrifyingly loud and disgustingly vivid noise. 

Your head snaps around to see the devastation, but it doesn't even feel like you're moving. You're horrified - there's so much blood. Everyone's running or trying to fend off the blood hunters. 

But nobody hears you when you speak. And you think for the first time, you're okay with that.


	9. In too deep

She's crying in her sleep again, and you don't know if you should wake her or not. The last time you did, she started screaming at you, thrashing around - she broke the lamp on the nightstand.

So you take the calm approach, resting your hand on her cheek, brushing away her tears and sighing gently, because you love her so much and it kills you inside to see her this way. You move forward and kiss her forehead.

She doesn't know you feel this way about her, and you want to keep it that way. At least for a little while. You don't know what the point of getting together in the midst of all of this would do, look what it's done to Gamzee. Dave and Karkat aren't dealing either, and do not even get you started on Rose's situation. Girl's been in and out of a coma-like state for the last week.

You kind of feel sorry for them all, but you're more worried about Terezi right now. Poor girl. Her face is pale and she's twitching in her sleep, probably having another nightmare. You wish there were a way to immerse yourself in her dreams so you could make it all better.

But there isn't, so you settle for snuggling up to her until you're interrupted by a scream. A sharp, continuous, hoarse scream that pierces your ears because you're right next to the source - and you're scared she's going to break something else so you jump up and away from her, holding your hands up defensively. 

This isn't the first time this has happened, but you're not used to it either. She simply lays on the bed for a while, still as death and screaming like her life depended on it. In some way, you think that maybe it does. You have to block your ears before you go deaf- you didn't think her gravelly voice was capable of making a sound that high-pitched. You kind of want to join in and scream with her. Instead, you clamp a pillow over her face and hold it there until she goes limp. 

You remove it before she properly suffocates - you only want her passed out, not dead. Having her dead would suck.

Nobody comes to make sure you two are alright; they seem to be used to episodes like this now. 

You're snuggling up to her when dawn breaks, but she doesn't get up when you tell her it's time to go. You shake her, and she stirs. She's confused when she finally comes to, looking around with this perplexed expression on her face. At last her eyes fall on you (you're confused as to why this would be a trigger considering she's fucking blind) and her face contorts into one of sadness, tears spilling over before you can even say anything.

"V-Vriska?" She sobs, shuffling to the edge of the bed.

"I'm here," you say quietly and sit down beside her. She cries into your shoulder for a while and you offer her a tissue from the nightstand. She blows her nose and tosses the paper on the ground somewhere, then once again before you can say anything, turns to you and crashes her lips against yours.

Then you feel something piercing your back, feel a smirk on your lips, and everything goes dark.

The next thing you know, you're sitting awake in bed next to her sleeping form, screaming. There's a banging at the door, followed by a very grumpy voice shouting at you to calm Terezi down. You fall back against the sheets, breathing hard.

And that's when you decide this needs to stop.


End file.
